NEW DELHI: In order to improve compliance among e-commerce companies, the Central government has made it mandatory for firms such as Amazon and Flipkart to submit FDI policy compliance report by statutory auditor every year.
In a notification issued on Thursday, the government said that e-commerce companies have to obtain statutory auditor report by September-end for the preceding financial year.
“...E-commerce marketplace entity with FDI shall have to obtain and maintain a report of statutory auditor by 30th of September every year for the preceding financial year confirming compliance of the e-commerce guidelines,” the gazatte notification said.
The move was initiated after pressure from trader bodies, which had accused e-commerce companies of violation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had asked the government not to give in to demands of global e-commerce players and to make it mandatory for the e-commerce companies to obtain a compliance certificate by March 31, to be able to raise funds.
“We highly appreciate the steps taken by you so far to streamline the e-commerce business in the country, but predatory pricing and deep discounting is still continuing, which is a major concern and resulting in mass scale of closure of shops across country,” said a CAIT letter written by CAIT to the commerce minister on Friday.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had warned e-commerce companies of strict action if they do not halt predatory pricing on their platforms, flouting FDI rules.